Friday, November 15, 2002 :::
 

Word Count: 16,015

I have just figured out that if I can get to 20,000 this weekend, I'll be able to reach 50,000 by an effort of only 2,000 words a day. I've been doing that. It's do-able! Yay!

I've re-thought my position on reading what I've already written. Yesterday I went through and added some description to a scene that needed it badly. It finally occurred to me that editing doesn't only mean cutting words. Duh.

I'm now at the point where I'm not sure what's going to happen next in the story. It's a bit unnerving. So far the characters are continuing on their merry way completely under their own steam, but I'm going to have to give them a little direction soon. Where's this going anyway? Plot? Hello?

::: posted by Evie at 2:20 PM

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Thursday, November 14, 2002 :::
 

Word Count: 14,675

That's still an awfully long way from 25,000, which is where I need to be by the end of tomorrow if I want to hit my half-way point half-way through the month. Will I stay up all night to write another 10,000 words? Not likely. What's it going to take to cough up another 10,000 words? Typing. Lots of typing. One word after another. Just do it.

I'm searching for some self-discipline. I must stop reading what I have written. Stop. Just stop. Augh! Because when I read: 1) I hate what I wrote and want to re-write it 2) I'm reading instead of writing.

Tonight, I'm going out. We'll see if I have any words to type when I get home.

::: posted by Evie at 2:30 PM

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Tuesday, November 12, 2002 :::
 

Word Count: 12,011
Yes! That's better!

another exerpt

She emerged suddenly from her reverie to the feeling that someone was watching her. Slowly she raised her eyes, searching the crowd. On the far side of the carousel, she saw him. Her breath caught in her throat as she was propelled into a memory of that night in Vegas, running into the couple in the hotel. That's who he reminded her of - the stunningly good-looking man in the hotel.

He was beautiful, this creature, watching her from across the square. Watching her watch him. He wore a long black overcoat trimmed with some kind of grey fur. The style of the coat was vaguely retro, but Sophie who wasn't good with that sort of thing, couldn't place the time. He wore no hat, but as it wasn't raining that was not unusual in and of itself. His features were fine, and had his nose been less masculine Sophie would have called them delicate. He was dark haired and clean-shaven, which might have made him appear younger than he was, but Sophie couldn't shake the feeling that he was older than he appeared. It was the eyes that were really arresting, however. They were a golden hazel color, and so intense that when they locked with hers she immediately felt the urge to pull away. It was odd, really, a small part of her observed. How he was, on the one hand, very attractive, and on the other hand, he made her want to turn and run. She was so startled, in fact, she nearly dropped her coffee. The movement, as her arm jerked, drew her attention and allowed her to break away from his intense stare. When she looked again, he was gone.

Thoroughly unsettled, Sophie gripped her cup tightly, as though the hot liquid inside would somehow anchor her to her place in the world. She took a deep breath and fought against her impulse to run. She was safe in a crowd. She knew this. No way was she going to make herself a target by separating from large groups of people.

Sophie waited her turn in line, dropping her coffee cup in the trash just before she got on the carousel. She glanced around casually but didn't see him on the ride, so she deliberately chose a horse on the outside. At this point, irritation was starting to overcome her fear, and she was damned if she was going to let some stalker wannabe ruin her annual carousel ride. 'Let him try to mess with me,' she thought, narrowing her eyes, 'and I'll find out if those self-defence classes were worth what I paid for them'.

The music shifted from classical to baroque, loud enough to drown out nearby conversation. Sophie began to relax as the ride started moving, horses slowly swinging up and down as their gears propelled them forward. She closed her eyes for a moment and leaned back, holding the post with both hands. It was something she had loved to do as a child, when she would literally hang backward over the tail of the horse. Not that she had any intention of going back quite that far - not only was she was not a child anymore, she wasn't that flexible. She smiled and shook her hair back out of her face and then sat up and opened her eyes.

And nearly screamed when she met a pair of golden hazel eyes, not less than eight feet away. The adrenaline that shot through her made her hands clench on the post, and she tightened her knees on the wooden saddle. The stranger smiled in a way that she supposed someone else might find assuring but which she found alarming. Predatory, even. Up close he was undeniably beautiful. She recognized that most women her age would have been flattered to have someone like this paying any attention to them at all.

Sophie, on the other hand, was not most women. In fact, she was getting extremely annoyed. She frowned at the man, who smiled even more broadly, his eyes twinkling. By the time the carousel slowed to a stop, Sophie was steaming mad and more than ready to confront this guy. She swung one leg over the horse to dismount and glanced at the floor as she did. When she looked up, he was gone again. She searched the crowd leaving the carousel but she couldn't spot him.

::: posted by Evie at 9:01 PM

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Word Count: 10,124
Go me! Now I just need another 15,000 words by Friday and I'll be half-done. :::sobs:::

::: posted by Evie at 3:45 PM

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Monday, November 11, 2002 :::
 

Word Count: creeping up on 10k
I need to write more. I need to find motivation to write, I need to be less intimidated by this story, I need to focus and I need to be less tired, darn it!
That's a lot of needs.

::: posted by Evie at 8:37 PM

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